Former Caterham Boss Plans To Compete With His Old Employer

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A new track day brand from a man who ought to know track day cars.

A stripped down track day car, powered by a Ford Duratec four-cylinder and drawing heavily from the influence of Colin Chapman. Sound familiar? That’s because Ansar Ali, the former boss of Caterham, is now looking to produce cars under the new brand Zenos, cars which will be following a pretty well-worn path. The first will be called Project E10; it weighs 1,430lbs and is powered by a 197-horsepower 2.0 Ford engine. The car will use an aluminum tubular chassis and recycled carbon sheets for the bodywork.

A supercharged version is planned for the future as well. Funding has come largely from the Niche Vehicle Network, itself a niche part of the UK government’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. There is also a new car being planned for 2016, the E11, which is a roofless design. And for 2018 there will be a new coupe, known as (you guessed it) the E12. A bit more competition in the world of track day cars always sounds like a good thing, although going up against Caterham will not be easy.